Starvation Walleye,

       Utah is not known for its walleye fishing, that's more of a Midwest or northern states fish but Utah does have a quality walleye fishery program. There are six bodies of water in Utah that have a good population of Walleye; Willard Bay, Lake Powell, Utah Lake, Deer Creek, Yuba and Starvation. In this article I will describe how I fish Starvation.


   
      I like Starvation because it's pretty close to where I live and also has a very good walleye population, as well as perch, rainbow trout and small mouth bass. Unlike Utah Lake or Lake Powell, Starvation is not so large as to make finding the fish very difficult. Deer Creek and Yuba can be hit or miss, with Yuba having some issues with the water being used for agricultural purposes.

     Starvation  is located just west of the town of Duchesne Utah, on Highway 40. If your coming from the Salt lake valley and you make it into town, you went to far. Starvation has several primitive boat ramps and one State Park boat ramp. There are also several areas you can set up a primitive camp or you can choose to camp in the State park camp ground which is adjacent to the main boat ramp. The water is more stained than in the other upper elevation reservoirs but, its a lot clearer than Utah Lake, Willard or Yuba.

      The walleye can be found everywhere on the reservoir, but the better areas are on the north east end of the reservoir, in an area called Saleratus, by the Duchesne tunnel.  Another favorite of local fisherman is the Bunny Gulch area but the Walleye can be dispersed throughout the whole lake, and just as with Kokanee, when you find one you find a lot.

      My lure of choice in the hot summer months and in the early fall is a floating worm harness with a Colorado blade in fire tiger or some of the other bright colors, trailed behind a bottom bouncer, walking sinker or a three way swivel rig and sinker. I use the three way rigs so I can adjust the depth using the leader length to be in the right zone. I will use the electric trolling motor for this technique, and I control the speed up or down to keep my line as close to a 45 degree angle as I can. The weight of the bouncer, walking sinker or three way rig depends on the depth of water I am fishing. Remember the rule of tens, 1 ounce for every ten feet of water, 10 feet of water one ounce weight, 20 feet two ounces and so on. Lifting and dropping the bottom bouncer, walking sinker or three way rig to make sure I am very close if not touching the bottom. The more sensitive your rod is, the easier it is to feel the mushy feel of a walleye picking up your presentation, you can also feel if you are on a weed bed, sand, mud or rocks just from the feel, remember to keep it very close to, if not on the bottom.

      I will also use the three way rig with a floating Rapala, shad rap, or lipless crank, using mostly perch colored or a black over white. The three way rig keeps it in the target zone and I can hold it there by adjusting the amount of line I let out, or reel in, depending on the depth. I will keep the boat going from 1.9 to 3 mph. depending on the aggressiveness of the fish.

      I enjoy fishing Starvation because if I get bored chasing walleyes, I can switch techniques and catch Rainbows, Browns and perch in the same areas, using the same baits, or switch to jigging for the perch or pitching spinners or crankbaits into the shoreline for Smallmouth bass.



Good luck, I hope this article helps and good fishing.

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